Food Wine Sleep

I remember the first time I heard of this drink, I was a young Chef working for a very stern head Chef. John was a very "My way or the highway" kind of guy and during service or anytime in the kitchen for that matter, all of us junior Chefs knew to agree with him no matter what the topic. I know, it's not very respectable to be a yes man but trust me in the case of John it was easier to sell out a little than to debate and possibly be threatened with your job. Long story short, one night after work we, "we" meaning the waitress's and the kitchen staff went out for a few drinks after work. The bar we were at was an absolute hole in the wall, but it...

Antipasto or Antipasti literally translates to before the meal and is served as an appetiser/first course. It is such a social way to eat; a group of family or friends standing or sitting near this communal platter and everybody sampling everything together as they chat and catch up. Italian's have eaten like this for centuries and although there are no real rules as to what you put on your antipasto platter, I prefer to stick to the things that have most likely been served on antipasto platters just as long. Think of this not so much as a recipe but rather a list of ideas that you can stick to or stray from.

This juice blends a traditional juicing fruit with a very unlikely ingredient into a smooth and refreshing concoction. Ensure to use very young bulbs of fennel only, as they have much less "bite"in taste and have a very fruity flavor. Chill the fruits well before juicing them.

The crisp asparagus is sure to please the lovers of all things green. The salty prosciutto will definitely make the meat lovers smile. The reduced balsamic will satisfy the sweet teeth amongst your guests and the ease of preparation is most definitely going to please you; the host, (that's really all that matters isn't it?) Enjoy your party.

Legend has it that Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles used to like to drink in a bar in Venice Italy, called Harry's Bar. However, this establishment is not known for it's past famous clientele but rather it's owner, Giuseppe Cipriani. In fact it is probably more accurate to say that his bar is really actually famous for his drink invention, The Bellini, rather than him or his clientele. After creating the famous drink using white peach puree, Italian sparkling Prosecco wine and raspberry or cherry juice, Giuseppe felt the colour resembled the colour of the toga worn by a saint in a painting by one of his favourite Venetian artists, Giovanni Bellini. Whatever the tru...

Fresh sweet mussels dressed with a spicy rich butter dressing. This recipe is a great little dish for the summer patio gathering or barbecue that will ensure you can spend more time with your friends and less time in the kitchen.

I remember the first time I was introduced to this drink. It was when I was working at a 5 star hotel in Canada, just outside of Vancouver. Every Sunday morning the hotel used to do a very large brunch buffet that was booked out weeks in advance by locals and tourists alike. The food was incredible, the buffet abundant and overflowing with fresh seafood and the waterfront setting stunning. The perfect environment to enjoy this drink in after a hard day in the kitchen.

I've used Chambord in desserts for many years, but it wasn't until recently that I discovered it as a drink. Since discovering it in a glass it often takes the place of dessert for me, as it is on the rich and sweet side of things. On the nose Chambord smells of plum and vanilla, on the tongue it tastes like a mouthful of raspberries washed down with a glass of good cognac. In this recipe the champagne adds another level (pardon the pun) yet takes nothing away from the Chambord either.

Summer is the season for eating fresh oysters near the water. For casual occasions you can't beat the natural oyster with a squeeze of lemon. However if you're entertaining you might want to spice things up a little. The fresh chilli and ice cold gin in this marinade should be more than enough to do the trick.

I have a confession to make. I admit, I am a chocoholic and love all things chocolate. I also like spicy food. I dislike sweet drinks and although I am not really a Martini drinker also (gin has always been more my beverage of choice), this recipe of a chocolate martini combines some of the best things in live for me. Depending on your personal taste you may want to start with a little less chilli and work your way to the spiciness you prefer.

This recipe that is a mixture of mulled white wine and a white sangria. During cold winter nights I find this a very nice drink and it seems to make me less sleepy than a mulled wine. The warm white wine will keep you warm and your nose free, the citrus fruits add freshness, vitamin C and balances the sweetness of the honey and sugar. The Cardamom adds a little surprise to this old and tested recipe.

This is a great little recipe to pull out as a simple yet impressive canape next time you want to make an impression. All the ingredients are pretty easy to find although the trip to your local fish market for the fresh cooked crab meat is the key. Do not use crab that has ever been frozen, or canned. At a stretch, the pasteurised stuff in the refrigerated section of your local supermarket or deli can be used, but really the only choice for me is fresh cooked.

This recipe has been with me for a while and I am using it in small cakes for cocktail parties or as an appetizers. It actually was given to me by my colleague Liana Doyle with whom I had the pleasure to work with a few years ago. The tender texture and the sweetness of the crabmeat combined with the mild spicyness of the Cajun spice and the tabasco is what I like on it. Feel free to add more Tabasco and chilli sauce as you like, it is really up to everyonce individual taste. The quality of the crabmeat is very important for the final product to come out right. I like to use pasteurized lump crabmeat, for the crab cakes. These crabcakes are best served with either a salsa...

Do you like drinks with cream, drinks with fruit, and drinks with layers? So do we, that's why we came up with this one. The other night a couple of friends and I were after something new. After a bit of collective input we came up with this one straight out of the hatch. However, trust me when I say that this was the only successful drink we made all night. I think we probably celebrated our success a little too much. Hope it becomes part of your celebrations as well.

Snails/escargots are the sort of delicacy people either love, crave for and adore or simply do not like and are quite appalled by it. In any case, the snails one usually buys come in a tin or jar and are already washed, purged and ready for the final cooking. I like to sautee the snails and flavor them with a little Pastis or Riccard before baking them with the butter. The recipe for the 'Escargots butter', just as the 'Cafe de Paris' butter is the sort of recipe that makes the 'house specialty' the very sort of thing. I guess the whole secrecy stems from the fact, that especially with escargots, the butter is the most important ingredient, as the snails itself are rather...

I'm not sure if it's because of its place in popular culture but for a lot of people the Martini is a drink reserved for a night on the town and special occasions. For me it is a drink that I like to make at home, (I know I sound like a lush) but there is something strangely rewarding and enjoyable about all that stirring, straining and garnishing. Plus I like any excuse that allows me to walk around my own house drinking from a Martini glass, domestic extravagance.

This drink has it's origins in warmer climes, where the lime is not an expensive imported citrus and rum is a plenty. So you'll find that this drink lends itself well to hot summer days by the pool. When I drink Mojito's (pronounced mo-hee-to) I always feel good about it, well to be honest with you I feel pretty good about drinking any drink, but with this drink I almost feel like I'm doing my body a favour. I mean drinking soda water, fresh citrus, fresh citrus juice and fresh mint must be good for me right? Well apparently not, judging by the Mo-hangovers, but it is too tasty a drink to resist and the day after is still much less an ordeal than when drinking preservati...

This recipe is one of those occasions where the ability to use dried herbs in place of fresh is not an option. The fresh thyme and parmesan cheese work together to compliment the flavour of the mushroom in a way that the dried herb cannot. Making this dish using the larger field mushrooms also makes a great option for a vegetarian first course.

The recipe for this dip has been with me for a few years now. It combines the best of both worlds, the 'Asiatic' spices of ginger, chili and lemongrass with Mediterranean ingredients like the virgin olive oil and the lime juice. If you prepare the dip ahead of time, you must ensure that the cilantro is chopped and added last minute to the dressing in order to achieve the freshness desired for this dish.

This recipe comes from a friend of mine; Maria. She is from the beautiful coastal region of Galicia in the North West of Spain. The area is bountiful in many types of delicious seafood and the local's diet and Maria's repertoire clearly represents this. Her seafood recipes are amazing and the stories she tells of her upbringing eating all the wonderful local specialties always makes my mouth water. One such dish that had me salivating when she first told me about it was this one; Pulpo a'la Gallega. Unfortunately when I make it, I break a cardinal rule and serve it on a normal plate as opposed to the traditional wooden plate. I don't think she has yet forgiven me and I am...

This recipe for marinated mushrooms is an absolute breeze, it keeps for weeks and can be done in large batches. So go on, make some now and the next time you have friends over you'll have one more homemade item you can serve with your antipasto platter. Did we mention they are delicious.

A lot of recipes you find that incorporate Sea Scallops tend to drown them in rich sauces. I think that this is a bit of a shame as rich sauces are best reserved for flavourless and texture lacking seafood's, something that a nice fresh scallop is definitely not. This recipe is very simple to prepare and although it incorporates some strong flavours it still leaves the Scallop as the star of the show. I tend to use the Queensland variety, as I find them to be the perfect size and have beautiful ocean sweetness. Obviously if you're not in Australia it will be a bit difficult to find this variety, but find a fish monger you can trust and ask him or her what they recommend.

There are numerous variations of this dish throughout Vietnam, southern China and Thailand. This particular recipe calls for a cuttlefish and shrimp mousse that is breaded and deep-fried while other variations are made with shrimps or prawns only, with the addition of crabmeat to the mousse or even spiced with chili, basil and coconut milk, crusted in desiccated coconut flakes. They are also not always breaded and fried, but also available steamed and steamed and then grilled. Whatever your preferences might be, shrimp on sugar cane will always be a well liked dish whenever you serve it.

Personally, papaya or pawpaw is one of my favorite fruits. I like it for breakfast with cottage cheese and few drops of lime or like here in this recipe as a mildly spiced salsa with prawns or other seafood for that matter. Papaya is a fruit which needs to be eaten at the peak of it's ripeness. If the fruit is just a little under-ripe they are quite tasteless and lack sweetness and flavor and if they are just a bit over-ripe the flesh is getting mushy and has a sort of "tired" aftertaste. This recipe of the salsa combines ginger, honey and lime, which I feel is a perfect accompaniment to ripe fully flavored papaya meat and goes well with any freshly grille...

A real summer specialty. The idea was to recreate the Italian favourite of aged Balsamico vinegar as an accompaniment to marinated strawberries as an mocktail. The thickened, reduced balsamic vinegar can also be replaced by a side order of pure Balsamico, where a guest can flavor their own strawberry honey juice to their liking. Please ensure that you use very ripe and full flavoured strawberries and a good quality honey. If you want to make this an alcoholic drink, replace the water with sparkling alcoholic cider.

Martini's are usually quite a strong drink and technically only Gin Martini's are really Martinis. These days the name is often used on many different cocktails simply served in a Martini/Cocktail glass. In any case who are we to be stubborn sticklers for tradition? This "Strawberry Martini" is similar to the Gin Martini in 2 ways; it is strong and served in a Martini Glass! The strawberries and sugar will however disguise that strength as sweetness, mmmmmmm!

Sugar syrup is to the bar what stocks are to the kitchen. Simple to make and an indispensable staple item to have on hand.

I remember a couple of years back, a time in Sydney when virtually every single restaurant and caf� had fish cakes on their menu. Unfortunately it was also the time when this beautiful Southeast Asian dish gained a very bad reputation. Fish cakes were served crumbed in bread crumbs, undercooked, overcooked and served with everything from ketchup tomato sauce to heated peanut butter as "Satay Sauce". The reason for this I believe is people think it is an all too easy recipe, "mince some fish add a bit of this and that, a bit of commercial curry paste, deep fry them and dip in anything." This obviously looks nothing like the symphony of flavours u...

A popular drink in Mexico is Agua Fresca, literally translated it means "Fresh Water". It consists of any available fresh fruit juice mixed with cold water and a little sugar. It is a perfect drink for the hot Mexican climate and is the inspiration behind this recipe, although inspired by; I did stop short of naming it, "Vodka Fresca".

White Russian, Cold Mexican however you look at it, it's not exactly a difficult drink to make, but it is one of my favourites so I thought it deserved a spot on the Cocktail Menu. The sweetness of the Kahlua is an absolutely perfect match for the crisp kick of the Vodka, if you stop there it's a Black Russian; add milk and you have the beloved White Russian.